Indicating device for automobiles and other road-vehicles.



- J. H. FAULKNER.

INDICATING DEVICE FOR AUTOMOBILES AND OTHER ROAD VEHICLES.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 12, 1910.

l lkfififim Patemed J 111 5, 1915.

6 SHEETSSHEET MUM w) a as woe/1 1 ("on J. H. FAULKNER.

INDECATING DEVICE FOR AUTOMOBILES AND OTHER ROAD VEHICLES.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. I2. 19w.

LMWWUI Patented July 6, 1915 6 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

.I. H. FAULKNER. INDICATING DEVICE FOR AUTOMOBILES AND OTHER ROADVEHICLES,

APPLICATION-FILED SEPT-12, I910.

Patented July '6, 1915.

m% M w km j. H. FAULKNER.

INDICATING DEVICE FOR AUTOMOBILES AND OTHER ROAD VEHICLESx APPLICATIONFiLED SEPT. 12, 1910x Lvmmmu PatentedJuly 6, 1915.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 4 lllill I. H. FAULKNER.

INDICATING DEVICE FOR AUTOMOBILES AND OTHER ROAD VEHICLES.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. I2, I9I0.

Patented July 6, I915.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 5 EMA) (VIA/COT} J. H. FAULKNER. INDECATING DEVICE FORAUTOMQBILES AND OTHER ROAD VEHICLES.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 12, 1910. Lmwmm Pmemm July 6, 1915.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 5- it I Tb AT UFFIF LL11 JOHN HENRY FAULKNER, OF LONDON,ENGLAND.

INDICATING DEVICE FOR AUTOMOBILES AND OTHER ROAD-VEHICLES.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN HENRY FAULK- NER, a subject of the King ofEngland, residing in London, England, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Indicating Devices for Automobiles and OtherRoad-Vehicles, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to indicating devices for use in connetion with automobiles or other road vehicles and more particularly todevices of the type described in my prior British Patent No. 16,293 of1908. In the patent referred to I have described and claimed an indi.ating device for autoniobiles in which inclicating hands or othersignals are automatically operated from the steering mechanism toindicate the movement of the vehicle in one direction or another.According to a modification a separate cautionary sign for indicatingslowing up 'or stopping s employed, the can tionary sign beingautomatically operated 'by the application of the brake.

The present invention has for its object.

to modify and improve the indicatingdevice above referred to for thepurposes hereinafter more fully described.

My invention consists of the following improvements in indicatingdevices of the type above referred to: Instead of employing a separatepanel or illuminable compartment for each signal, I employ only onepanel or compartment at or in which a number of signals are individuallyand successively or in multiple displayed. I also pro vide a signal toindicate reverse. Further features of my invention comprise amechanicalinterlock between certain of the signals; mechanism for movingthe signals to the full indicating, position upon the motion of acontrol lever being initiated or only partially completed; a pivoted orswivel connection and an extensible member interposed between thesignalto be actuated and the transmission rod or wire; a weather-proofcasing and means external to the using for adjusting the tension of thetransmission rods or wires; a box or compartment having a movable coveror front containing a removable 'translucpnt number plate illuminablefrom within the box or compartment; an illuminating device renderedluminous by the movement of each signal while the signal is in theindicating Specification of Letters Patent.

of screws 4 Patented July 6, 1915.

Application filed September 12, 1910. Serial No. 581,500.

position; mechanism for actuating one sig nal from a plurality ofpoints; mechanism for multiplying the movement of the steermg device androds or wires cooperating with extensible members for transmitting themultiplied motion to the signals, and other features all of which willbe more fully described hereinafter.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in whichFigure 1 is an elevation in perspective of my improved indicator; Fig. 2is a section thereof; Fig.3 is an elevation of the signals andtransmission wires; Fig. 4 is an elevation in perspective of thetransmission mechanism; Fig. 5 is a detail of Fig. 4C, and Fig. 6 is adetail of the electrical connections.

Referring tQ'aFig. 1 of the drawings, the box or casing 1 is providedwith a hinged cover 2 having an opening 3, said cover making a rain anddust proof joint with the box or casing 1. Within the box is located apartition or septum 4 (see Fig. 3) which may conveniently carry thevarious. signals hereinafter described. Located between the partition 1and the cover 2 is a frame 5- having a box-like portionimmediately-behind the opening 3 in the cover of the box and arrangedopposite an opening 6 in the partition 4. The opening in the partitiontis covered by a sheet of translucent material 7 behind which arelocated one or more illuminating devices 8 hereinafter referred to. Theilluminating devices, such as electric lamps, are located in a box-likeextension 9 carried by the rear cover 9 which is removably secured byscrews 9 and 9 It should be noted that the partition or septum 4 is alsoremovably secured by means Beneath the box-like member 5 are located oneor more illuminating devices 10 and the hinged front or cover 2 carriesa sheet of translucent material 11 which in the present instanceconstitutes a number plate. This plate 11, as will be seen from Fig.1,may be readily removed and replaced. At one side of the box-1ike frame 5is located an electric bell or other audible signal 12 and at theopposite side a rear light 13 which is visible through an opening or.window 14- in the cover 2.

Referring now more particularly to Figs. 3, 4i and 5, it will be seenthat the partition 41 carries two indicating hands or signals 15 and 16which are pivoted at 17 and 18 ios respectively. These signals haveprojecting members 19 and 20 respectively. the former carrying pins 21to which are secured springs 22 secured at their other ends to thepartition 4 by means of pins The signals 15 and 16 are each providedwith. swivels or pivoted hooks B l connected through the intermediary ofextensible memhers 25 to transmission Wires 26 which are preferahly ofthe Bowden wire type. These transmission wires are inclosed within tubes26* that pass through the bottom of the box or casing 1. to which. theyare secured by means of adjusting screws 2.7. The indicating hands orsignals 15 and 1 3. are actuated so as to assume the indicating positionshown in dotted lines in front of the translucent screen 7 by means of adevice actuated by the steering mechanism and shmvn in Fig. 4 of thedrawings. Referring to this figure it will be scent-hat thesteeringcolumn 28 carries a worm-wl'ieel 29 which en gages with asegmental gear 30 carried hy a stub shaft 31. The rod 32 is secured tothe shaft 31 and in'turn is provided with a l'rIMBkQl} or clampingmember 33 secured thereto by means of a set-screw or other equivalentdevice 34!. This hracket is adjustahly mounted so that it may be movedtoward or away from the stub shaft 31. The respective transmission wires26 are secured to the respective ends of the bracket 33 and "thesetransmission wires pass through slotted guides and 36, to which the endsof the tubes 26' carrying the transmission wires are fastened byadjustable screws.

The operation of the signals is as follows: Assuming the vehicle isbeing steered either to right or left, the worm-wheel 29 rotates thesegmental gear 30 and rocks the shaft In so doing, the rod 32 is rockedand one or the other of the transmission wires 26 is pulled away fromthe indicating device and that particular signal to which the rod isconnected is moved into the indicating po sition. It will be seen that'for a small movement of the steering column a large movement of thetransmission wire may he ohtained. and by shifting the bracket 33 in onedirection or the other the amount of pull on the respective transmissionwires may be increased or diminished. The object of multiplying themotion in. the manner above described is as follows: It has heen foundthat when an automobile is making a turning movement that the indicatinghand or signal. does not at once assume the full indicating position,but does so only progressively in such manner that the turning movementis always complete before the indicating hand has assumed its fullindicating position. It is desirahle that immediately the turningmovement is initiated or only partially completed that the indicatinghand or signal should assume the full indicating position. In otherwords it is desirable that the signals should be rendered what may betermed. dead heat in their action. In order to attain this end lprovide. extensible members such as the springs between the connectionsQ-l and the wires '26. The arrangement is such that the initial movementof the steering column produces a large motion in the transmission wires26 with the result that one or lthe other of the indicating hands isatonce moved into tlfe indicating position. The continued movement ofthe transmission w re if i: then compensated lay reason of the springs35 extending. in this respect it will lies'e'en that as either or thehands 15 or 16 are moved the swivels or pivoted hooks '24 always pointor hang in the same direction. downwardly.

It might happen that after being actuated one of the signals wouldremain in the indicatin; position, and to provide against this emergencythe springs 22 are employed. These springs norn'ially tend to keep thesignals 15 and 16 in their nonindicating positions against the stops 3'?and 38. The signals 15 and 16 are mechanically interlocked by means of"a rod 39, which rod has looped extremities l0 and 41 in which the pins21 carried by the members 19 are free to slide. When one signal israised to the indicating position the pin. 91 is moved away from thecenter of the apparatus and the spring 22 is stretched while at the sametime the pin 21 engages the looped extremity 40 or 41 of the rod and inso doing moves this rod bodily to one side. The other looped eXtren'iityof the rod 39 now engages with the other pin 21.. that is to say, if theindicator or signal which carries the latter pin has by any chanceretained its indicating position it will he seen that the action of theinterlock 39 is to positively return one signal to its non-indicatingposition when the other signal is actualed and raised into itsindicating, position. The action of this interlock is of coursereciprocal.

The members 20 of the signals 15 and 1G ei'igage electric contacts andi3 respectively. 'lhese contacts will he referred to later.

As in my prior patent. I also provide a cautionary signal to indicatewhen the vehicle is slowing up or to he. stopped. This signalrepresented in Fig. 3 by a triangular disk 44- with letters cut therein.lhis triangle is carried by a lever 45 pivoted at 46 and provided with amen'rber 4:7 to which a transmission wire 48 is secured. Said wire 48works in a tulle 4-8. Asprinfg, M is secured at. one end to thepartition 4. and at the other end to the lever 45 so that the latter isnormally always held down in the non-indicating position. This transmission wire passes through the indicator maveo casing and through anadjusting screw 49 located outside the box and through a guide block 49slotted at 50 and also through a slotted guide 51 to a guide pulley orfair 35 lead 52 carried by the chassis from whence it passes to abracket 53 carried by the foot brake lever 54 which actuates the enginebrake by means of a rod-to which it is secured by means of an adjustingscrew 55 m through the intermediary of an extensible member such as aspring 56. This arrangementis shown more clearly in Fig. 5.

The transmission wire 48 is provided with a sleeve .57 having a boss orenlarged portion 58 at one extremity or at any other convenient point.This sleeve 57 is rigidly connected with the wire and slides in thegroove 59 (see Fig. 5) the bracket 51 which is secured to an arm 52keyed to the shaft 60 which operateslthe cam within the brake drum. 61.The "arm 52' is'connected with the hand brake "lever 62 by means of therod 63 and arm 64 mounted upon the shaft 65 in the usual manner. It willbe seen that if the foot brake is actuated, the signal indicating stopwill be elevated into the position shown in dotted lines and similarlythat if the hand brake 62 is applied the arm: 52 will be rocked and thebracket 51 will engage the projection 58 on the sleeve 57 and pull thetransmission wire toward the front of the car, thus actuating thetriangular signal. According to this arrangement a single signal may becontrolled from two 85 different points, namely, the brake pedal and thebrake lever. Fig. 4 shows the foot and hand brakes in the off position,while Fig. 5 shows the foot brake in the on position.

Reverting to the lever which carries to the triangular cautionarysignal, it will be seen that this leverpasses beneath contacts 66 and67. In the position shown in full lines in Fig. 3, the lever 45 does notmake contact with the contacts mentioned. but c6 when the signal isactuated and the lever rocked about its axis 46 it engages first the tip66 of the contact 66 and then the tip 67 of the contact 67, in whichposition it remains during the whole time the signal is in theindicating position. The contact made at 66' is only momentary and willbe referred to hereinafter in connection with Fig. 6.

' As already pointed out, according to the 56 prese t invention I employan additional signa l 'indicating reverse. This signal is shown'iin fulllines in Fig. 3' and is indicated by 68, being carried by a lever 69pivoted at 70 and having an arm .71 to which is secured a transmissionwire 72 working in a tube 72 that passes through the casing 1 and issecured thereto by means of adjusting screw 73. This transmission wireis connected to a sleeve 7 4 which is journaled or adapted to slide in abarrel 75 carried by a bracket 76 suitably secured to the chassis; thetransmis sion Wire 72 passing through the sleeve 74 is secured at 77 tothe lower end 78 of the control lever 79 mounted upon the shaft 65. Whenthis lever is drawn into the reverse position it will be seen that thesignal indicating reverse 'is lifted into the visible position.Normally, this signal is not visi ble and is held in its lowermostposition by a spring 80 or otherequivalent device. The lever 69 engageswith contacts 81 and 82 in substantially the same manner as the lever 45engages with the contacts 66 and 67. The indicating hands 15 and 16, thecautionary signal '44 or the reverse signal 68 are all mounted in frontof the translucent material in the opening 7 so as to be visible duringthe day time. The words Stop and Reverse must be formed by perfor..tionsin the respective signals so as to be visible at night and in suchrelative positions that when the car is at rest and just about to bereversed, the signals Stop and Reverse are both visible.

The operation of the device will now be described more particularly withreference to Fig. 6, which is a diagrammatic representation of therespective contacts and circuits including the lamps and an electricbell. In this figure the reference numerals correspond withthose shownin Figs. 1 and 3, while 83 represents a source of electric current. Thissource of current may be a small generator on the car or a storagebattery as the case may be. The contacts 42, 43, 66, 67, 61 and 82 areall insulated, while the contacts 15, 16, 44 and 68 remain uninsulated,that is to say earthed. One pole of the battery is connected to aconductor 84 with the lamps 8, which are connected in parallel and withthe contacts 43, 67 and 81 which are in series with the lamps. The otherpole of the battery is earthed at 85. The bell 12 is connected incircuit by means of a conductor 87 which also connects the insulatedcontacts 42, 66 and 82 in parallel. Assuming, for instance, that avehicle carrying the indicator is about to turn to the right, the. firstmotion of thesteering column causes the signal 15 to take the positionshown in Fig. 3 in dotted lines. In passing into this position theextremity 20 of signal 15 makes electrical contact first with thecontact42 whereby a circuit through thebcll is completed and the latter givesan audible signal that the car is about to turn and subsequently makescontact with contact 43v during the time the signal is in its indicatingposition. As soon as contact is made at 43. both lamps 6 behind thetranslucent window are illuminated and remain so until the signal drops.The same thing happens in connection with the signal 16 or either of thesignals 44 or 68, that is to say each time a signal is actuated a bellis rung momentarily and the illuminating lamps are lighted during; suchtime only as the signal is visible. I provide a switch 88 for cuttingout the battery for daylight operation. 1

Another feature of my invention resides in the employment of the box orcompartment containing the lamps 10 located behind the number plate 11.,These lamps may be oil, electric or as lamps as desired.

Although I, ave hereiribefore described the preferred form (if carryingout my pressaid indicating ex t invention I do not wish to be limited tothe specific arrangements shown and described but wi h itto beunderstood that various modifications maybe made to suit differingconditions.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent isi 1. In an indicator for vehicles, the combination of a. steering gear,a casing provided with an exposing aperture, a plurality ofindependently mounted signaling devices operable tomove'to a commonindicating position at said exposing aperture, means for connectingsaidsignaling devices to be actuated from said steering gear, spring meansconnecting said connecting means with said signaling devices, adapted tomove said signaling devices into full indicating position. upon a smallmovement of said steering gear, and spring means connecting saidindicating devices with said casing adapted. to rcturnsaid in ice-tingdevices into non-indicating position, substantially as described.

2. in an indicator tor vehicles, the combination of a casing, providedwith an eX-.

posing aperture, a plurality of independently pivotally mounted.signaling devices operable to move to a common indicating position atsaid exposing aperture, means for actuating said signaling devices,spring means connecting said actuating meansand said signaling devicesadapted to move said signaling devices into full indicating posi tionupon a small movement of said actuating means, spring means connectingsaid indicating devices with said casing adapted to return saidindicating devices into non-indicating position, and a bar provided withlooped ends having-loose engagement with devices, said bar adapted tomove one of said indicating devices into nonindicating position when theother of said devices is moved into indicating position, in the event offailure of operation of said means for returning said devices intononsupporting structure; a pair of indicating devices pivotally mountedon sziid structure; means for actuating said indicating devices;

and a bar having loose connection with each of said devices and adaptedto move one of said devices into non-indicating position when the otherof said devices is moved to indicating position, substantially as described r 4. In an indicator, the combination of a supporting structure;a pair of indicating devices pivotally mounted on said structure; meansfor moving said devices into indicaring positions; means for positivelymoving said devices into non-indicating positions; a bar provided withlooped'ends having loosc engagement with said indicating devices, saidbar adapted to move one of said indicating devices into non-indicatingposition when the other of said devices is moved into indicatingposition in the event of failure of operation of said means forpositively mov ing said devices into non-indicating posi tions,substantially as described.

5. In an indicator for motor driven vehicle-s having a foot brake and ahand brake for the wheels, the combination of a signaling device, aconnecting means between the foot brake and the signaling device, abracket connected to the hand brake; and a member fixedly mounted onsaid connecting means adjacent said bracket, said bracket adapted toengagewith the fixed member to actuate the signaling device'througb.said connecting means, substantially as described 6. In an indicator formotor driven vehicles having a foot brake and a hand brake for thewheels, the combination of a signaling device, a wire connecting thefoot brake and the signaling device, an apertured bracket connected tothe hand brake. and 2 sleeve fiiiedly mounted on said connecting wireand movable through the a 'ierture of the bracket, said sleeve having apart adapted to be engaged by the bracket to actuate the signalingdevice through said connecting wire, substantially as described.

In testimony .ereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN HENRY FAULKNER;

Witnesses:

HARRY B. BRIDGE, PERCY G. Hnwrrr.

